Save as / Export

[romicolman]

Problem description

Let's say a user uploads a dataset and then want to export it. She/He/They can then go to the top of the screen and click on SAVE AS. This window will pop-up:

As a user with non-technical background I would expect the ODE to show me the window to select location on my . Is it possible to do this @roll? Also, how is the data save on laptop? Zip file with more than one csv (for tabular data, for example)?

[roll]

Let's discuss it in the planning -- as any IDE we use a concept of a project (which is not properly indicted via UI yet) so a user saves files within the project. I agree that we need:

• provide more info (the full path)
• ability to save outside of the project

[romicolman]

@roll Let's do that, but in the meantime, please let's also discuss this here so I can gather more info for our call

Please, check this PR just in case and for further context.

We also talked about this with @guergana and @pdelboca last week. Added them here to see if they have further comments.

My thoughts on this:

• Once a project is created, it "lives" within the ODE. However...
• We need to give users the opportunity to export projects but also individual files with their metadata.
• Path is not understandable for users. We all agree that files are created within projects and not outside them, so does the path save the tabular data within the project or the pop up message is an indication of where to save it within the ODE (project).

[roll]

Once a project is created, it "lives" within the ODE. However...

@romicolman
A project is just a folder on the user's disk. If you are a data publisher, you might already have hundreds of datasets you work on, so ODE is just a tool to work on these folders (i.e., there is no "within ODE" -- it's just files on your disk you can open in other apps or file managers as well).

[romicolman]

Hey @roll we discussed this during the planning meeting, but I wanted to add more context.

As a data trainer I want to:

• Open de ODE.
• Go to ADD.
• Select LOCAL FILE and open a specific csv.

After exploring the file and making small changes:

• I want to click on SAVE to update my file.
• Click on SAVE AS to export the updated version of my tabular data.

After clicking SAVE AS, I expect to see the window where I can select where to save the file on my computer.

And...

At this point I think we need a deeper conversation.

A non-technical user will be more interested in the tabular data itself: the updated version of the csv or Excel file, for instance.

A more technical user would expect the data package: the updated file and the descriptive file.

So at this point we can do this:

• The user clicks on SAVE AS.
• The ODE displays a pop-up message: Do you want to save your updated file or the folder containing your file and the data description?

Something like that...

Adding @pdelboca here also to have his insights.

[pdelboca]

@romicolman my two cents.

Most users are used to the difference between Save as and Export/Publish. Most applications like Word, Excel, GDrive, Open Office, etc have this difference.

So I think it would be worth to explore the option of having separated buttons for this actions:

• Save as: normal Save as that every user expects.
• Export as datapackage/Save as datapackage: if the user wants this specific action.

[guergana]

@romicolman my two cents.

Most users are used to the difference between Save as and Export/Publish. Most applications like Word, Excel, GDrive, Open Office, etc have this difference.

So I think it would be worth to explore the option of having separated buttons for this actions:

* `Save as`: normal `Save as` that every user expects.

* `Export as datapackage`/`Save as datapackage`: if the user wants this specific action.

I agree with @pdelboca here

[romicolman]

Hey! Thanks for your insights! A couple of comments. Let me know what yo think. As a user I expect to see all the Save options all together, so what if the Save as button includes two options: Datapackage/File and we keep the Save as place as it is right now (bottom of the ODE).

Export button: similar as Save as, we include two options Datapackage/File.

My biggest concern is the space we have right now on the ODE screen, but..this is what we can do.

Option 1: we add the Export button in the upper right corner (above the table) after the REDO/UNDO. Drawbacks: I don't like this option a lot because it "breaks" the flow of the other options there and we would have a lot of buttons there (metadata, errors report, redo, undo and the export button).

Option 2: since we removed the REVERT option, we can place this button at the bottom of the ODE. It makes more sense.

Let me test this with two potential users and I'll get back two you. In the meantime, what do you think of the
Save as and Export options suggested above?

[roll]

@romicolman
Can you please clarify this issue?

Currently, we have two options:

• "Save As" -- save the file copy under a new name (the same as in any other editor)
• "Publish" -- publish a dataset to Ckan/Zenodo/Github

[romicolman]

@roll I'll assign this issue to @pdelboca for Sprint 3. However, let's discuss it during our planning meeting.

[pdelboca]

I will add some extra info here. Currently the Save As is not working, the form has a wrong validation:

Probably related to the changes we did in https://github.com/okfn/opendataeditor/pull/374/files

[guergana]

I will add some extra info here. Currently the Save As is not working, the form has a wrong validation:

Probably related to the changes we did in https://github.com/okfn/opendataeditor/pull/374/files

@pdelboca Unexpected side effect.. oopsie. Yes it's definitely coming from that change. I thought I had isolated the change. I can fix it this week. We definitely need automated tests to avoid these errors.

[guergana]

I will add some extra info here. Currently the Save As is not working, the form has a wrong validation:

Probably related to the changes we did in https://github.com/okfn/opendataeditor/pull/374/files

@pdelboca I have created this PR: #399 to fix the issue, if you approve the changes and rebase the current PR on top of that one, you should be able to continue working on this. :D :D

[romicolman]

I'm closing this ticket since we addressed part of the issue here. In addition to that, the stable version of the ODE just kept the SAVE option.